Asprova APS

It is not possible to create an optimal plan manually. There are so many possible combinations and possibilities that it is beyond the grasp of the human mind. Asprova is a solution that enables a set up of step-by-step planning logic based on the company's production. At each stage, one work center is examined and an optimal plan is prepared for it, which in turn is the starting position for preparing the plan for the next work center. By starting the planning of the entire plant with one push of a button, in reality all the planning steps are carried out automatically in the set order.

Asprova knows how to use the resources most efficiently in a specific production situation and determines accordingly the best resource for each planning stage, taking into account the resource load, minimizing setup time and waiting time between work operations and controlling possible order delays.

Determining the sequence of work is done on the basis of configurable rules that take into account, for example, order or customer priority, delivery time, or any other work-related specifications. The result is an optimized work sequence based on each resource, which minimizes the total production time of the product and works in sync with all other work processes of the factory.

Creating a production plan for the entire factory takes from seconds to minutes. Quick feedback from planning allows you to respond quickly to customer requests and possible downtimes in production.

In situations where many similar small work operations have to be performed in one work center, it is reasonable to group them into one so-called consolidated operation. Such approach not only simplifies the planning, but also allows later in production to report all work at once with one movement. For example, if hundreds of parts need to be drilled with the same drill in the work center, which may all be related to different products and orders.

As a rule, there are many machines and devices in production. To ensure their normal, safe and trouble-free operation, they all require maintenance. In the simplest case, the maintenance is periodic (e.g. every Monday or the last working day of the month), in more complex cases, working hours or processed quantities must be counted. The latter situation is generally more resource-saving, because it is not always optimal to maintain the machine with the same cycle at a lower load as at a higher load. Asprova views maintenance as a normal work operation assigned to the machine. By reading the working hours and quantities made by the machine since the previous maintenance, it can plan the next maintenance at the right moment, automatically moving the following work forward if necessary. The purchase of necessary materials and the planning of maintenance workers can be linked to maintenance.

Simulation of the production plan is necessary in situations where we want to evaluate different scenarios in both the long and short term. What happens if, for example, you change work schedules, change the number of work shifts, invest in new equipment. It takes a moment to introduce such changes and run the simulation, after which we can immediately compare the simulation with the current plan. How much did total product lead times, resource loads, on-time delivery percentage, etc. change?

A production plan is a complex and sophisticated set of data, where work operations are related to each other and at the same time to resources. Resources must not be overloaded, and in the case of parallel resources, all must be free and available at the same time. A realistic production plan that takes into account all the nuances of products and resources is a huge data set that is difficult, if not hopeless, to control and evaluate with spreadsheet tools. Asprova offers various visual charts and graphs, where the user can determine how the data of interest to him is displayed. For example, to display all work operations related to customer orders that are late by the due date in red, with those that are less late in a lighter shade and those that are more late in a darker shade. Such a visual inspection allows you to quickly track down possible problems and errors.